


Making your own fate, one poor decision at a time

by Slant



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Battlefield, Free Will, Gen, Philosophy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 22:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slant/pseuds/Slant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"But they should have a virtue to shape their life, amid the powers and chances of the world, beyond the Music of the Ainur, which is as fate to all things else."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making your own fate, one poor decision at a time

I couldn't have thought this on Weathertop; I didn't know. I hadn't sat in Rivendell at the knees of Elven harpers while Bilbo whispered translations. But this thing is true: the younger races carry the Gift of Ilúvatar. The three of us _are_ younger races, Man and Hobbit and whatever the Witch-king of Angmar may have become, he was born Man and no lore of the wise that Gandalf knew said that the Gift could be lost. 

So as he boasts of his ancient prophecy, my mind goes icy clear and I can see possible futures. I see the weak spots in his armour, armpit and back of the knee, where I may surely strike to cripple or kill, as chance dictates and if prophecy counts "Hobbit" and "Man" as synonyms. That way, Éowyn gets second bite of the cherry, and we find if prophecy counts "Woman" and "Man" as synonyms. Or I can embrace hope and the Ilúvatar's Gift and strike at his philosophy, at predestination.  
Can it be so simple? Have the wise, Elf and Maiar, completely overlooked the biggest loophole in destiny since the second Age? That actually seems quite likely. 

"Then we are none of us bound by that prophecy." I stagger back as he turns his empty-cowled gaze on me. "Hobbit." I make a stabbing gesture at my chest with my left thumb. Éowyn asserts her womanhood to his armored back. He advances and I give ground with what agility I can, bare feet dancing on earth slick with the blood from his mount.  
"But we are not so bound _anyway_ for we three are of the younger races. Orcs and Elves and Oliphants live out their doom because they must. We choose."  
Éowyn has a good position now, but she is not striking. Good.  
"Bar you Nine, how much is any man is his presence? The Eye can see what Men do, but he can not see what we _may_ do, so he fears our potential."  
The hood tilts down, and he stops stepping after me. I halt too, a little way distant from what I hope is the reach of his mace. A lot distant from the reach of my Barrow-blade. I ... I may have made a poor decision.  
"We choose."  
"The Uruk-hai resist commands as no Orc can, because they share the Gift and fate has a weaker claim on them."  
I lower my sword, bounce on my toes; I do not hope parry his mace. Bilbo admitted what he did when Gandalf asked this of him. I'm no wizard, and the witch-king resembles Bilbo hardly at all. Appeal to his pride. He'll either tear the ring from his finger and fall to dust (1:500 outsider) or attack me as a ring-thief (1:1 dead cert. No payout).  
"You choose, every day, to be His slave. _He_ may say that you took your ring for all time, but you did not; the younger races may always choose again. Choose again, king of Angmar."

**Author's Note:**

> So I realised that the witch-king's prophecy doesn't apply, not so much because of some lingistic game but becasue the race of man is able to defy fate the abstract concept. The word-game in text is like finding a legal loop hole in a jurisdiction that you have never visited for a crime you will never commit.
> 
> EDIT: "another poor decision" -> "a poor decision". Silly Slant, Merry is not Pippin.


End file.
